Clive James, who is terminally ill and too unwell to return to his native Australia, has said that he would like his ashes to be scattered in Sydney harbour — presuming they are not seized by customs on arrival.

The broadcaster and poet, 76, has written a poem that he would like inscribed on a plaque at Dawes Point, a Sydney suburb overlooking the harbour.

Published in the New Statesman’s summer issue, the poem, Return of the Kogarah Kid, has footnote that reads: “In my will I have left instructions that my ashes should be scattered into Sydney harbour…

Extract: Return of the Kogarah Kid

Here I began and here I reach the end From here my ashes go back to the sea And take my memories of every friend And love and anything dear to me, Down to the darkness out of which the sun Will rise again, this splendour never less: ...........................

Here I began and here I reach the end From here my ashes go back to the sea And take my memories of every friend And love and anything dear to me, Down to the darkness out of which the sun Will rise again, this splendour never less: ...........................

Here I began and here I reach the end From here my ashes go back to the sea And take my memories of every friend And love and anything dear to me, Down to the darkness out of which the sun Will rise again, this splendour never less: ...........................